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Students compete in tough Aquabots challenge

23Oct2018

Tuesday 23 October 2018

On Thursday 20 September King’s entered three teams into the inaugural Auckland Aquabots competition, hosted by the Royal New Zealand Air Force at Whenuapai.

This year, Old Collegian Gareth Bodle (Parnell, 1970-74) invited King’s College and some local schools in the area to compete in a new Auckland leg of the competition, which normally was held in Napier.

“This competition involves the creation of an underwater remote controlled robot to then race in an obstacle course, collect kaimoana and search for parts of a shipwreck,” says Head of Physics, Bryan Sapsworth. “The students needed to also present to a panel about their experiences with the Aquabot.”

The students had to answer questions about what the retrieved, which required study of NZ shipwrecks, invasive species and Kaimoana beforehand. There were five disciplines in total, with the students rotating through each section during the day.

The overall trophy went to a team from Hobsonville Point Secondary School who had won the competition last year and also went to the USA to compete.

“The students loved the challenge of making a different type of robot and learning how to solder the circuit boards. The students enjoyed the challenge of answering questions, which appeals to the King’s students,” says Bryan.